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501st Legion
"Those aren't just stormtroopers. They're from the Five-Oh-First Legion. Darth Vader's personal legion." - Everi Chalis The 501st Legion, also known as the 501st Battalion or Vader's Fist, was an elite military unit in the Stormtrooper Corps of the Galactic Empire. Its origins, however, date back to the era of the Clone Wars when the 501st was part of the Grand Army of the Republic. Like other Republic military regiments, the 501st was composed by clone troopers—an army of soldiers bred on the planet Kamino to fight for the Galactic Republic. However, it was not part of any clone trooper corps; the 501st was a standalone infantry legion assigned to the command of Jedi General Anakin Skywalker. Throughout the Clone Wars, the 501st deployed across the galaxy to defend the Republic against the droid armies of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, and often served alongside Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi's 212th Attack Battalion on worlds such as Christophsis, Geonosis and Umbara. During the Battle of Umbara, the 501st staged a mutiny against Jedi Master Pong Krell, who had been appointed to replace Skywalker as their commanding officer for the duration of the campaign. Krell, whose fall to the dark side of the Force led him to undermine the Republic's war effort by aiding the Umbaran Separatists, attempted to evade arrest but was ultimately captured by his troops. Krell's second-in-command, Clone Captain CT-7567 "Rex" resolved to execute the General for committing treason against the Republic, although the deed was ultimately carried out by trooper "Dogma," resulting in his own arrest in the aftermath of the battle. The Sith conspiracy against the Jedi Order was nearly exposed by CT-5555 "Fives," an Advanced Recon Commando who served with the 501st since the early days of the conflict. Troubled by the loss of CT-5385 "Tup," Fives investigated his comrade's death and discovered a malfunctioning control chip in the clone's brain. Upon analyzing the clone hatcheries in Tipoca City, Fives realized that every clone of Jango Fett was engineered with the same chip in their head. Although he brought his findings to Coruscant, capital of the Republic, Fives became a wanted fugitive for attempting to assassinate Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, who revealed to the ARC trooper that the chips were designed to force the clones to betray and murder their Jedi leaders. Horrified by this revelation, Fives contacted his superiors in the 501st, hoping to prove the conspiracy against the Jedi. However, he was tracked and surrounded by a contingent of Coruscant Guard clone shock troopers led by Clone Commander CC-1010 "Fox," who fatally shot Fives while attempting to arrest him. The Jedi Purge commenced in 19 BBY, three years after the Battle of Geonosis in 22 BBY, when the Grand Army of the Republic received instructions to execute Order 66—the secret protocol directing all clone troopers to liquidate the Jedi Order. Palpatine, who was, in fact, the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, deployed the 501st Legion to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, under the command of his new Sith apprentice Darth Vader. Marching on the Order's home, the 501st stormed the Temple and massacred its inhabitants, including Padawans and Jedi younglings. The 501st continued to operate under Vader's command during the reign of the Galactic Empire, although by then he had established the First Legion as his personal stormtrooper legion. Nevertheless, the 501st gained the nickname "Vader's Fist" due to their continued affiliation with the Sith Lord. During the Galactic Civil War, approximately two decades after Emperor Palpatine's rise to power, the 501st fought against the Alliance to Restore the Republic at the Battle of Hoth in 3 ABY. At that point, the Empire had long since retired clones in favor of birth-born human recruits and conscripts. Category:Characters Category:Villains Category:Foot Soldiers Category:Mass Murderers Category:Traitors Category:The Dreaded Category:Scary Characters Category:Clones Category:Characters hailing from the Star Wars universe Category:Characters hailing from the Star Wars Clone Wars Universe Category:Heroes turned to the Dark Side Category:Masked Characters Category:Groups Category:Gun Users Category:Military Characters Category:Members of The New Galactic Empire Category:Palpatine's New Galactic Empire Category:Reformed Villains Category:Murderers Category:Characters voiced and/or played by Temuera Morrison Category:Characters in Powerful Harmony